Of baluster form with boldly applied handle, the upper two-thirds of the reddish earthenware body covered with a green lead glaze. This simple baluster form on spreading foot is characteristic of English wares of the 13th to 14th century.

Jacqui Pearce, of Museum of London Archaeology, points out that the fabric and elongated pouring lip are not typical of London wares and suggests a Midlands source.

Since most pottery of this period has been found in archaeological contexts or rescued from the depths of wells, it is rare to find such a piece intact.

Bernard Rackham, the erstwhile Keeper of the Department of Ceramics at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in his introduction to his Faber monograph on Medieval English Pottery states: “though designed for severely practical purposes and making no conscious claims to be regarded as things of aesthetic estimation, they have a dignity and beauty of form which are as a rule painfully lacking in the civilised teapots and covered dishes…of our china shops”.

Condition:
Chips to spout, rim and foot. Some glaze loss. No restoration.